Job growth in the healthcare sector remained robust in November, according to employment figures released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The U.S. economy added 30,000 healthcare jobs last month, including more than 25,000 ambulatory healthcare jobs. That number includes 7,000 new jobs in physicians offices; 4,000 new jobs in outpatient care centers; and 7,000 new home healthcare services jobs.
Hospitals added 2,200 jobs in November, while the nursing and residential care sector added 2,000 jobs.
While the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent, the unemployment rate for the healthcare and social assistance sector dropped to 2.6 percent from 3.0 percent in October. The unemployment rate in the hospital sector fell to 1.2 percent after holding steady at 1.4 percent August-October.
While the job growth figure remained strong toward the end of 2017, it was not enough to help the sector reach last year’s even-stronger month-by-month gains. Through November, an average of 24,000 healthcare jobs were added each month; in 2016, the sector averaged 32,000 new jobs per month.
The 30,000 jobs added in November in the healthcare sector exceeded the October figure of 22,000.
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